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Umpire Sam Holbrook Mocks Atlanta Braves Fans During Delay in National League Wild Card Game

October 6th, 2012 at 2:32 PM By Cody Fields

Atlanta Braves fans will find another cause to be enraged with the infield fly call that left field umpire Sam Holbrook made during their loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Wild Card game Friday night. When fans at Turner Field caused a delay, Holbrook seemed to take some time to taunt the fans before play resumed.

It was something that none of the TV cameras picked up during the 18-minute delay in the eighth that was caused when fans became unruly and threw bottles and other debris on the field after Holbrook called Andrelton Simmons out on an infield fly on a dropped pop-up in the outfield that was later estimated to land 225 feet from home plate.

The umpires huddled near the pitcher's mound for most of the delay, even though pulling the players off the field. But just before the Cardinals started warming up, Holbrook broke from the huddle umpires and began moving toward his position, even while the Turner Field grounds crew was still cleaning up. Met with a chorus of boos, Holbrook removed his cap toward the fans in left field and continued to do so while they threw more bottles on the field.

"Come on, blue," one fan screamed. "The game's not about you."

That fan along with any others perturbed by Holbrook's actions after the call were rightly incensed. It's just amazing none of the cameras or media picked it up as yet.

Even with the fact that there's no excuse for what the Braves faithful did, Major League Baseball must look into Holbrook's actions and attitude and take some disciplinary action. If they are really concerned about the integrity of the game, that is.